Chapter 74
HEL SCANS
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‘Labin Hawk.’
This old professor was a thorny figure for Yussi.
It was about five years ago when she took office as the head of the academy, supported implicitly by the current Emperor and acquiring a substantial stake in the school corporation with Glendor’s vast financial resources.
Her first major action was a massive restructuring, aimed at clearing away the remnants of the incompetent and corrupt former head of the academy.
Numerous faculty members who had ridden the coattails of the former head’s iron rice bowl were let go.
Labin Hawk was one of the few senior professors who survived this ruthless purge.
The reason Yussi couldn’t dismiss him boiled down to two main factors.
Firstly, his rank was too high.
Labin had served as a professor at Rosenstark for the longest period, teaching students.
Many of his disciples were actively serving in key positions across the Empire, some wielding considerable influence even being called ‘giants.’
In fact, Yussi herself, the current Emperor, and even the hero had studied under Labin’s guidance.
His influence was immense, to say the least.
While it might be possible to challenge him with careful preparation, stirring up trouble with him would likely result in a catastrophic aftermath.
Secondly, and actually the primary reason, Labin’s reputation was not bad; in fact, it was quite good.
Unlike the former head of the academy and other senior professors who had engaged in massive corruption, Labin had a spotless record.
His qualities and abilities as a professor were unquestionable, and his accumulated research achievements were outstanding.
Especially in tactics, he had earned a solid reputation.
The moment Yussi and the Emperor’s plan to reform Rosenstark veered slightly from its course, Labin Hawk became a potential disruption.
Anyway, the result was that Yussi, along with some professors gathered around Labin as the focal point, had no choice but to continue their persistent struggles.
…Of course, for the Extreme Kids who had just entered the academy, this was an ancient secret history they could never know.
But now, they were feeling in real-time that Labin was quite an unusual figure.
It was in the classroom where the reinforcement was taking place.
“I am Labin Hawk. You probably know, but I am in charge of the Unir lecture on ‘Understanding the Battlefield’ in the Combat Department.”
Clap! Clap!
The kids clapped ceremoniously as they observed Labin, who appeared for reinforcement.
His mostly white hair, with a disproportionately large percentage, was neatly styled with pomade, without a single strand out of place.
His beard was meticulously trimmed as if sharpened with a razor.
In the midst of his face, filled with tight wrinkles, his sharp eyes scrutinized the children.
“You’ve probably been accustomed to a certain type of class, mainly focused on practical exercises. It seems it was quite risky practical training, suitable for upperclassmen…”
A low and thick voice.
Strong tone and firm pronunciation.
In his cold expression, there was no trace of kindness or sociability.
The children watched Labin in slight stiffness.
Every time he spoke, it felt like the air in the classroom became even heavier.
‘…He’s quite intimidating.’
Evergreen always sat at the front.
It was a habit to concentrate more on class and gain something extra.
However, she regretted her choice for the first time when she met Labin’s piercing eyes.
“But you won’t need your combat gear for today’s reinforcement. Everyone put it away.”
It was a different pressure from what they felt from the hero.
The hero’s pressure came from his great reputation and innate dignity.
On the contrary, the hero was usually modest and not very authoritative.
He was known for answering somewhat absurd questions and encouraging students’ free expression of opinions.
…But Labin seemed to lack such tolerance.
From the moment he mentioned not needing combat gear for today’s reinforcement, Cuculli, who seemed displeased, raised her hand and exclaimed.
“Uh, so are we not doing any practical exercises today? The scheduled class time is supposed to be 6 hours…!”
“Cuculli Evans. Questions should be raised when permission is granted.”
Labin looked at Cuculli and spoke.
While other kids might have been intimidated, unfortunately, she wasn’t one of them.
“Yes! Can I ask a question now?”
With a lively response, Labin was momentarily at a loss for words.
“…Go ahead.”
“So, are we not doing any practical exercises today? Just theory?”
“Why do you need practical exercises?”
“Well, because we’ll have to fight demons later…”
Labin frowned and interrupted Cuculli.
“Nonsensical. You’re freshmen. It’ll be at least five more years before you step onto the front lines. There’s no need for risky practical training right away. It’s enough to do it after advancing a grade.”
“But Professor Redymer…”
“The current class falls under my jurisdiction. Redymer’s opinion is not important here.”
The kids looked somewhat puzzled.
Of course, they knew that theory was as important as practical experience, and the hero had emphasized the need for theory through anatomy classes and the like.
However, they couldn’t shake the feeling that Labin, for some reason, despised practical training.
“Today, we’ll examine the defeats humanity experienced in the last ten years or so. We’ll discuss the tactics used at that time, the reasons for their failure, and alternative strategies.”
Labin finished speaking and gestured towards the back of the classroom.
“Assistant Joyce! Distribute the prepared materials to the students.”
“…Yes.”
Pia moved somewhat reluctantly, not in her usual manner. While handing out the materials, she displayed an unwilling attitude.
The kids looked at her with confusion but accepted the papers.
Ban’s head tilted in amusement as he quickly skimmed through the entire set of materials.
‘Wait a minute, this… .’
The documents detailed various types of defeats, with thorough classifications.
Reports and situational explanations from those times were densely recorded.
Ban’s gaze lingered on the list.
Battle of ‘Wraithfire Plain’.
Battle of ‘Ardum Gorge’.
Battle of ‘Lake Kubo’… .
‘Most of these battles were commanded by Professor Redymer, right?’
“Let’s identify the mistakes made by the commanders in these defeats and discuss suitable alternatives.”
‘Wow, this is absolutely evil.’
The class looked at Labin with his mouth wide open as he confidently continued his lecture.
Some kids were already connecting to their Connectors.
* * *
The Hero continued his meditation and suddenly opened his eyes.
‘Is it today?’
It is the day of the first extreme reinforcement.
By now, the children are probably hearing about the ‘Original’s’ defeat from Labin.
‘This is a necessary process.’
…‘Original’ did not always win.
Especially in the early days of his activities, when he threw down the gauntlet and gained fame, the Dawn Knights, composed of himself, his peers, and juniors, had many shortcomings.
There were many similarities between them and the current extreme kids, with talents so concentrated that they could be called the ‘Golden Generation.’
The seniors made mistakes when they first entered the battlefield, and the kids needed to know what those mistakes were and what the consequences were.
Effective methods to avoid repeating those mistakes also had to be learned.
That’s why I entrusted the reinforcement to Labin.
He had extensively researched tactics in the Combat Department and, for some reason, always used his own failure cases as examples in lectures, perhaps due to his strong dislike for the ‘Original.’
‘Still, I heard that he criticizes with reasonable grounds rather than indiscriminate blame’
HEL SCANS
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Kasim, well-versed in the professors’ situations, told me, and it was also mentioned in last year’s Connector data.
Anyway, in terms of tactical theory, he was exceptionally skilled.
He occasionally came to other academies seeking knowledge.
“If his abilities weren’t up to par, he wouldn’t have been able to take on the role of Unir instructor in the first place,” Kasim added.
The hero believed that Labin could fill in the gaps in the shortcomings of the extreme thus far.
‘Well, I’ve thought enough about Rosenstark now.’
So, the hero’s thoughts returned to the original topic that had been haunting him.
It was about dealing with the Lonkers incident—or more precisely, dealing with the ‘Administrator of the Stake.’
‘…it’s the most threatening variable in the current situation.’
Therefore, since arriving at Lonkers, the hero had invested most of his time in ‘Avatar Training,’ except for the time spent on exploring the Stake’s surveillance.
It was mainly to face the forces of Malekia.
Given that I’ve faced countless real threats from Malekia, the ‘List of Implementable Avatars’ includes a significant number of Malekia’s subordinates.
The grade of the stake embedded in this area is Grade 5.
Since administrators of Grade 5 stakes are mainly mid-level demons, I chose a suitable demon from my avatars.
▼
Virtual duel completed
Duel Evaluation: B-
If the evaluation result is B- or lower, it is recommended to duel with avatars of lower difficulty.
Generating a comprehensive evaluation…
▲
However, the results were never satisfactory.
It was on a different level than the lesser demon ‘Azimuth’ faced before.
From intermediate demons and above, they belonged to legions, receiving some of the powers of a Greater Demon.
In particular, one of Malekia’s representative powers, regeneration, horrifically increased the difficulty of the battle.
‘There are no effective hits.’
With the regeneration ability added to the resilient and fast body of an intermediate demon, it was challenging to inflict critical hits.
Relying on the Black Hope alone was futile.
Using the weapons stored in the Valber at the right moment was the only way to gain a slight advantage.
Consequently, it inevitably turned into a protracted battle.
‘Not easy.’
Eventually, they had to exchange blows until both of their manas and stamina were depleted, then barely win, or use Halo for a fatal blow and wound him before the fight starts.
Neither side desired such a fight.
This place was an enemy territory with stakes embedded.
Ambushing the opponent was dangerous, and…
‘An Administrator reinforced by the magi spread by the stake would be significantly stronger than an avatar.’
The hero concluded.
‘Until the Second Form is unlocked, I must avoid direct confrontations at all costs.’
…The First Form, Halo, enhanced the destructive power and versatility of the crescent blade.
It allowed the freely transformable shape of the crescent blade, which is fundamentally a half-moon shape, by adjusting the mana density.
This made it possible to concentrate mana to a single point for increased destructive power or spread it for an omnidirectional strike.
Since various attributes could be added, it was possible to maximize attack power by choosing the attribute that countered the opponent.
It was a kind of offensive technique.
On the other hand, the Second Form, Nova, was a supportive technique that increased ‘physical abilities.'”
To be more precise, it increases ‘speed.’
It not only enhances movement speed or the speed at which the body operates.
The moment Nova is activated, even the head, usually unaffected by internal mana, comes under the influence of mana.
As a result, the speed of perceiving and judging objects in the brain also increases.
It becomes possible to translate thoughts into movements much more quickly and accurately into physical actions.
Although there was severe recoil as it was a technique that could push the body beyond its limits, the ability to move and judge at several times the original speed was a tremendous merit.
If acquired, it became possible to face opponents much stronger than oneself.
This ability was so remarkable that ‘Original’ described it in this way:
‘The moment I realized Nova, it felt like the world was slowing down.’
The ability to use 1 second as if it were 10 seconds.
However…
The hero glanced at the dirty walls of the inn.
‘…I haven’t even found a clue yet.’
The progress of the fireplace, firewood, and flames seemed insufficient.
The unlocking of the Second Form did not seem to be happening anytime soon.
However, he couldn’t just sit back and wait for reinforcements.
‘They claim to be minimizing casualties, but the fact is people are still dying.’
The hero clenched his fist.
If he could realize the Second Form, he might be able to eradicate the stakes before the reinforcements arrived.
‘…Let’s practice so that we can at least mimic something similar.’
He had a plan.
He knew well how ‘Original’ had come to realize Nova.
Stuck in a trap, separated from his comrades, and fighting several demons alone.
He didn’t know if he could find even a small clue if he found himself in a similar situation.
…So he activated the Iris of Laplace once again.
▼
Do you want to execute Avatar Training?
▲
Pain and other sensations in Avatar Training are the same as in reality.
Of course, it can be adjusted arbitrarily, but doing so prevents gaining enlightenment.
The hero continued with the settings.
▼
Do you want to set ‘Intermediate Demon, Rackmos’ as the training Avatar?
Do you want to set ‘Intermediate Demon, Avril’ as the training Avatar?
Do you want to set ‘Intermediate Demon, Belethor’ as the training Avatar?
Load the saved battlefield, ‘Ardum Gorge.’
Proceeding has an extremely low chance of winning.
Will you proceed?
▲
He nodded.
Immediately, the Iris of Laplace transported him to a narrow, steep gorge filled with dark shadows.
‘They come out fast.’
On the narrow and steep path, the hero adjusted his grip on the sword, facing demons spreading powerful mana.
…It was a fresh start.
Today, he was prepared to die at least fifty more times.
HEL SCANS
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